Tuesday, March 29, 2011

John and I wandered into Frankie's last Saturday to use a Groupon. I'd passed this little place on the corner of Divisadero and Pine for a few years as I used to work down the street at Mt. Zion and had only popped in once for beers with coworkers. I had been holding onto the Groupon for a while as the reviews were quite mixed on Yelp and I seriously didn't want a hockey puck hamburger or warm beer.

We ordered popcorn shrimp to start which were divine. I could have bathed in their popcorn shrimp, sadly a dish left off of most San Francisco restaurants. We both chose the bacon cheeseburger and were pleased. They were juicy and delicious. Only complaint is that John got three times as more fries as me. Just cause I'm small doesn't mean I don't like my fries.

The service was great. A nice European man greeted us from behind the bar and pointed for us to sit where ever we wanted, which was 99% of the restaurant as their was only one table occupied. We presented our Groupon as instructed and the waiter very pleasantly said to just hold onto it and he'll ring us up at the end. He really was quite nice, so I am confused by all the Yelp reviews that say he is rude. When we did go to pay, he apologized for not being able to take our credit card for the $7 balance. I could tell he said this a lot and probably more times than not someone yells at him and scoffs off. To me it's the restaurant policy and it's their place so they make the rules, minimum $30 charge period.

All in all, the food was good, the atmosphere cozy and the service pleasant. However, I really don't think I'll be back, unless its for the popcorn shrimp. Nothing really set this place off from the other thousands of restaurants in this city. I don't see this as a restaurant that draws crowds, only a convenient neighborhood spot.

About Me

I love to travel and write. I've been to 4 continents and counting. I look forward to sharing my past and current adventures and experiences. In addition to starting my Alice's Travel Adventures blog I've also begun another blog, oldbookjournals, following my new venture in creating personalized travel journals so others can capture their experiences in a unique and creative way. I hope you enjoy.